Summary Strether goes to Sarah’s hotel, and though the servant admits him to her apartment, he sees no one in the room. His attention is directed to a table on which sits an unopened letter from Mrs. Newsome. “It had altogether such an effect upon him as made him for […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 9: Chapter IIISummary and Analysis Book 9: Chapter II
Summary Sarah, her first week in Paris almost over, has been treating Strether “with a civil consistency of chill.” Strether does not know what to fully make of this development, and finding no relief in his “crowded empty expensive” days, he calls on Maria Gostrey. Because Maria is not directly […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 9: Chapter IISummary and Analysis Book 9: Chapter I
Summary A couple of days after the confrontation in Sarah’s apartment, Strether calls on Madame de Vionnet. Keeping his appointment “to the minute,” Strether fluctuates “between the sense of having something to tell her and the sense of having nothing at all.” Strether is still struck with the fact that […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 9: Chapter ISummary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter III
Summary The day after the Pococks’ arrival, Strether visits Sarah at her apartment. To his surprise, the first thing he hears as he nears the door is the voice of Madame de Vionnet. Upon entering the room, Strether’s surprise is increased when he finds Waymarsh with the two women. Sarah […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter IIISummary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter II
Summary As Chad leaves the station with Sarah, Mamie Pocock, and the maid, Strether and Jim Pocock depart together in a cab. Strether, buoyed by a smile from Sarah which he interprets as a sign that he “was then as much as ever the valued friend of her family,” assesses […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter IISummary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter I
Summary Not desiring the company of Waymarsh, Strether “rambled alone” in and about Paris. He had given Waymarsh the opportunity to confess that he was somehow involved with “Mrs. Newsome’s summons,” but Waymarsh declined to say anything. Chad is out of town, and Strether, with time on his hands, visits […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 8: Chapter ISummary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter III
Summary That same afternoon, Strether meets Maria, who has now just returned to Paris. He reveals that he is convinced that Waymarsh has been in communication with Mrs. Newsome, that Waymarsh has “written to Woollett that I’m in peril of perdition.” Strether is not angry at Waymarsh; he is relieved […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter IIISummary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter II
Summary Three days later, Strether receives a telegram from Mrs. Newsome. He reads it carefully and at some length, then crumples it up in his fist “as if to get it out of the way.” Waymarsh arrives and watches Strether unfold the paper, smooth it out on the table, and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter IISummary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter I
Summary About two weeks later at the cathedral of Notre Dame, which he has taken to visiting frequently as a “refuge from the obsession of his problem,” Strether sees Madame de Vionnet sitting in the church. Seeing her reinforces his determination to help her: “. . . he had resolved […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 7: Chapter ISummary and Analysis Book 6: Chapter III
Summary Madame de Vionnet, whom Strether here compares to “a goddess still partly engaged in a morning cloud,” joins Strether and Miss Barrace and asks her tactfully to leave in order to ask Strether a question: “Why has Maria so suddenly gone?” Strether explains that Maria has gone south to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 6: Chapter III